Food MArketing & Technology In India CC for web-HIgh Res | Page 25

this fast paced world. Personally, when I
return home aft er a long day at work, I look
forward to spending time with my cats as
they are great stress busters.
Th ere are around 5.5 million domestic cats
in India. Feline Club of India (FCI) has a
database of more than 21,000 cats registered
across India.
Cat Food
Th e increase in the feline population has
brought about a change in the market as
well, with an increasing the number of
products catering to cats’ well-being being
introduced in the Indian pet food market
which is chiefl y dominated by dog products.
Th e cat food market alone was worth INR
663 million in 2013 and has risen to INR
1320 million in 2019 with a record growth
of 95.8 percent. Th is segment is estimated
to rise to INR 2590 million by 2024. Despite
these statistics, the percentage of cats being
fed proper cat food is only 1.2 percent, with
the rest being fed home-made cat food.
Th us, the cat segment presents enormous
potential for growth.
Cat owners need to be made aware of the
importance of proper nutrition in cats’
overall health, activeness, and fur and
skin condition. Th is will help them make
the decision of switching to scientifi cally
prepared cat food which perfectly suits
their particular nutritional requirements.
People are also gaining awareness about cat
care which is evidenced by the increased
demand for cat products like litter box, litter
sand and cat toys.
Cat Litter
Cat litter holds massive potential for growth
as its use is on the rise amongst urban
consumers. However, it is still primarily
price-driven as consumers tend to be on
the lookout for brands that off er large
quantities of cat litter at lower prices. Many
cat owners in India still recycle and reuse
cat litter, restricting sales. Despite this fact,
the potential for greater penetration and
usage is high.
Th e cat litter segment possesses an overall
sales volume of INR 2.6 million, which rose
to INR 4.5 million in 2019 with an overall
growth of 42 percent and is estimated to
reach INR 6.1 million in 2024. While cat
litter is still essentially a commodity item,
the focus is to encourage people to trade
up from not using cat litter to buying it
more regularly. Owing to the small but
rising cat ownership rate in the country,
there is colossal potential for companies to
introduce higher margin cat litter products.
Some of the latest inventions include low
odour, less sticky, faster clumping and
lightweight formulations.
Healthcare and Dietary Supplements
Cat healthcare and dietary supplements
division is gaining prominence as it helps
extend life expectancy of felines. Th e pet
humanisation trend along with rising
awareness about health and wellness has
soared the sales for pet dietary supplements.
Pet owners are increasingly becoming